Factory Farming

News about factory farming, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 25, 2015

Mark Bittman Op-Ed column examines American system for determining whether chemicals are safe, in light of finding by World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer that ingredient in herbicide Roundup may cause cancer; suggests Monsanto, which makes herbicide, should fund independent research to investigate claim, and that herbicide should be removed from market until research is completed. MORE

Jan. 1, 2015

Mark Bittman Op-Ed column celebrates first day of California's Prop 2, measure that requires egg and some meat producers to confine animals in far more humane conditions; holds message of Prop 2 for factory farming industry is that consumers will no longer accept tortuous living conditions for farm animals, and expresses hope that similar anti-confinement laws will soon spread across nation. MORE

Oct. 18, 2014

Op-Ed article by television host Bill Maher supports movement to ban gestation crates that house pregnant pigs; condemns crates, which do not even allow pigs, one of smartest of barnyard animals, enough room to turn around; criticizes New Jersey Gov Chris Christie for vetoing ban, and calls for its passage in state. MORE

Sep. 16, 2014

Study in journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine finds that workers in industrial hog farms may continue to carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, over several days, raising new questions for public health officials struggling to contain spread of such pathogens. MORE

Aug. 13, 2014

Leland Glass, who raises calves for Milwaukee livestock processor Strauss Brands, which produces veal sold at select Whole Foods stores, allows them to freely roam his entire 2,200 acres in Hiseville, KY, and does not give them antibiotics or hormones. MORE

Aug. 1, 2014

Agriculture Dept releases long-awaited poultry-inspection rules that will give plant operators the option of conducting their own inspections for bird defects and feces on the processing lines and allow government inspectors to concentrate on other food issues in the plant. MORE

Mar. 13, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column examines detrimental effects of modern meat production practices developed by Tyson foods on both human and animal health and economy; argues structures that benefit agribusiness also contribute to rural poverty and privatize gains while socializing health and environmental costs; says first step is to recognize that industrial food system is unhealthy. MORE

Feb. 20, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column deplores treatment of pigs at many factory farms, including Iron Maiden Farms in Kentucky, where secret video taken by employee shows brutal conditions in which animals are kept; holds cheap pork is not worth animal cruelty, overuse of antibiotics and environmental pollution; applauds early industry reforms being driven by consumer education and preference. MORE

Jan. 27, 2014

Chipolte Mexican Grill plans to release four-part comedy series Farmed and Dangerous on TV-streaming service Hulu that takes satirical look at industrial-scale farming; fast-food chain is using series as stealth marketing strategy to promote company's concerns about sustainable agriculture and humane treatment of animals for meat, and will be shown during the Super Bowl. MORE

Dec. 12, 2013

Food and Drug Administration establishes major new policy to phase out the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in cows, pigs and chickens raised for meat; experts say practice has endangered human health by fueling the growing epidemic of antibiotic resistance; change will effectively make it illegal for farmers and ranchers to use antibiotics to make animals grow bigger. MORE

Oct. 20, 2013

Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column highlights research that shows that chickens possess more intelligence than many people have assumed; contends creatures of such intelligence should not be condemned to live in conditions that exist in factory farms. MORE

Sep. 6, 2013

Some 1,200 California farm hens past their prime egg-laying years are saved from being euthanized and flown on chartered plane to Elmira, NY; rescue operation is coordinated by Animal Place, farm-animal rescue operation based in Grass Valley, California. MORE

Jul. 30, 2013

Scientific community broadly agrees that overuse of antibiotics is causing growing resistance to drugs, and many scientists say their heavy use on animals on industrial farms is major culprit; Prof Lance Price, microbiologist, is sequencing DNA of bacteria found in grocery meat in Arizona as well as that in surrounding human population in effort to quantify how extensively drug-resistant bugs in animals are infecting people. MORE

Jun. 15, 2013

Editorial criticizes Environmental Protection Agency retreating from new regulations governing feedlot discharges, calling it latest development in agency's failure to protect waterways from factory farm runoff under Clean Water Act; calls on Gina McCarthy, Pres Obama's nominee to lead EPA, to begin forcefully regulating industry if she is confirmed by Senate. MORE

Apr. 10, 2013

Editorial demands laws that guarantee right to know how food is being produced in factory farms, rather than making undercover investigation of animal abuses a crime. MORE

Apr. 7, 2013

Dozen or so state legislatures across country have proposed or enacted legislation making it illegal to covertly videotape animal cruelty at livestock farms; measures, drawn up in response to incriminating videos that industry groups say have led to unfair scrutiny, are being scorned by animal rights groups. MORE

Sep. 4, 2012

Scientists say there is a troubling dearth of hard data on the relationship between routine antibiotic used in animals and antibiotic-resistant infections, despite consumer advocates' contentions that there is overwhelming epidemiological evidence linking the two; eighty percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States are consumed by farm animals, yet producers of meat and poultry are not required to report how they use the drugs. MORE

Apr. 13, 2012

Op-Ed article by author James E McWilliams asserts that alternatives to factory farming of animals are not good for the environment, despite having the appearance of being environmentally sustainable; contends that the only sustainable solution is to stop growing animals for their meat. MORE

Apr. 12, 2012

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column contends that modern egg farms are rife with abuse, disease and bad sanitation; expresses strong support for new federal standards that will provide more and cleaner space for hens. MORE

Apr. 5, 2012

Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column expounds on two studies by Johns Hopkins University scientists that found factory-farmed chickens are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic; contends that while the specific health effects of such trace elements remain unknown, studies raise serious questions about the long-term costs of large-scale agribusiness. MORE

Mar. 11, 2012

Mark Bittman Op-Ed column submits that the question of whether to eat factory-farmed meat over meat substitutes gains more relevance as advances in food technology help to produce more palatable fake meats. MORE

Dec. 1, 2011

Creil journal; the Netherlands has long been one of Europe's leading exporters of pork and there is now a growing debate over how and where to raise pigs in the small nation; Dutch farmers in towns like Creil are fighting rising costs by resorting to ever bigger herds and barns, horrifying neighbors and coming under fire from critics of the pork industry, who say the immense spreads harm the environment and threaten the health and welfare of humans and animals. MORE

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